Out and About - EFA Open Studios

On Friday evening my partner and I headed over the Elizabeth Foundation For The Arts (EFA) Open Studios on west 39th street. Members of this studio program are all professional artists with an established studio practice and recognized art career.

A jury of respected arts professionals, through a competitive application process, selects new members each year. Having never been and considering applying to the program I thought it might be a good thing to go and check out.

It’s a very impressive facility with artists on floors 3-10 and the open studio itself seemed very organized. We were met by greeters at the door who provided a nice brochure listing all of the artists participating by floor, along with an image of their work.

When I go to these events there is always an artist or two that makes me feel it was worth the trip. This time I can clearly say it was meeting Ryan Sarah Murphy and being introduced to her collage constructions. Created out of found cardboard, glue and foamcore, these pieces were very impressive and beautifully constructed. I responded quickly her use of color as well!

I love living in a city where events like this take place on an ongoing basis and the public is given access to discover the talent that exists behind closed doors. It’s a gift to be invited into someone’s creative space and get a closer look at their lives through their work.

If you are interested in seeing more of Murphy's work she is currently in a group exhibition at The Schiltkamp Gallery at Clark University in Worcester, Ma.

(RSS) Random Studio Shot

Artists in the Marketplace (AIM)

I'm very happy to announce that I have recently been selected to participate in the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) program at The Bronx Museum of Arts. The Mission of AIM is to provide networking opportunities for emerging artists residing in the New York metropolitan area and introduce their work to a greater audience. 

AIM is structured as a “collaborative residency” in which participants work directly with established artists, collectors, art critics, curators, dealers, lawyers, and other art world professionals. The 13-week seminar is offered annually to 36 participants, culminating with a biennial exhibition of the participants’ work. AIM sessions provide information, instruction, and professional guidance by addressing areas of practical concern to artists, among them curatorial practice, copyright law, exhibition and public art opportunities, gallery representation, grant writing, and marketing. 

On The Road

This seems to be the time of year for library book sales and this past weekend I made my way to Danbury Public Library Annual Sale up in Connecticut. I have to say it was a little overwhelming when I first walked through the doors. With over 30,000 books, this was perhaps the largest sale I have been to.

It was so large they provided each visitor with a floor plan, which identified all of the different sections by topic, with corresponding row numbers. I noticed they even had a designated “holding” area where you could keep what you collected safely stored while continuing the search for more books.

After studying the floor plan I decided to hit the children’s book section first. These are really becoming my “go to” books since I started working on a new body of work a couple of months ago. I love the outdated textbooks, activity books and storybooks because of their illustrations, typography and language.

Most of my books came from this area, but I did manage to hit every single aisle, except for the fiction section… nothing of interest there. On my way out a woman in line near me asked if I heard about the Ridgefield Library book sale happening in a few weeks, which I did not. Of course I’ll be there!

In Progress

Another new piece that is almost finished. Changing up how I use color and incorporating more text and imagery with this one. Also the process of how I create the piece has changed. Creating the circles from a middle point and working my way out. So far I'm pleased with the outcome and can see my work moving more in this direction.

On The Road

Had to visit BronxArtSpace this weekend to pick up some work that was in a recent show, so I decided to hit a couple of thrift stores in the area. I'm in search of much needed materials for a new circle piece I just started working on in the studio.

The first stop was at the Catholic Charities Community Thrift Store on E. 152nd St. The actual block the store was on turned out to be closed, for what appeared to be a block party, so parking was a challenge. After circling the area for a while with my partner in tow, I was finally able to park the car, in front of this beautiful building that turned out to be the Bronx Documentary Center.

BDC was founded in 2011 as a non-profit gallery and educational space devoted to documentary projects from around the globe! Coincidentally, the founder Michael Kamber will have 30 portraits on display at BronxArtSpace in a upcoming show titled Portraits of Survival.

Had a sneak peek at some of his work when we stopped in at BronxArtsSpace and these intimate photographs from conflict zones around the world were breathtaking! It opens on Wednesday, August 14th and he's also showing the photographic landscapes he made in the South Bronx during the 1980's.

When I finally did make it over to where the thrift store was located I found out it was no longer in business. Not a total loss though because being able to discover this new section of the Bronx and the BDC was well worth the trip.

After getting back in the car the next stop was the Salvation Army Thrift Store on 3rd Avenue. Have been there before, on one other occasion, and discovered it to be a gem for finding old record album covers for my work. Was not disappointed during this visit either and walked out with two large bags full of records!

Sold a piece from the show at the BronxArtSpace, discovered the Bronx Documentary Center and found some much needed collage materials... overall I would say it was a pretty good trip!

Face The Music

Stumbled upon this great video by Bibio the other day... inspiring collage images with some really great music!

In Progress

Making good headway on this new blue circle piece. Despite not having the chance to acquire new materials, it's coming along well using the stock I currently have on hand in my studio.

This Amazing Flow

There's this amazing energy in the studio right now. I feel like it's a combination of the spring light that floods the space through the large industrial windows and from recently having people visit during open studios. It's hard to capture in words... but it's there. The kind of energy that lends itself to this amazing flow.

Started working on a new piece this week, which means culling for materials has begun. Working with deep, rich blues and because I have never used this color predominately in any of my work before, it's like starting from scratch.

My greatest challenge right now is that none of my books have what I'm looking for and believe me, I have a lot of books in my studio. I'm only about half-way through them so there's still hope, but I have a feeling I will be relying more heavily on album covers for this piece.

With that said, decided to hit my favorite local Salvation Army Store in Yonkers on the way into the studio this weekend, but I couldn't access the place. There was a carnival in the large parking lot across the street, so finding parking was next to impossible.

Showed up back at the studio empty handed but was able to start work with the pages I had pulled a couple days ago. After reassessing I might just have enough material after all to get this new piece done. Will try and post an image of the work in progress in the next few days.

Holding On To Things

This weekend will be my 3rd time participating in the annual open studios event at my building and I'm excited to have the chance again to open my doors to the public. I really enjoy the interaction with visitors and it's such a great opportunity to share what I have been working on recently.

Last year I started actually working during opening studios and this proved to be a great strategy, at least for me. Not only does it give me something to focus on throughout the day, it's a great platform to talk about my work. It also provides guests an opportunity to see my artistic process up close and how I go about constructing my collages.

In the middle of preparing for this event I'm also relocating all of my older work, that has been in storage elsewhere, into my studio. As each piece comes in I'm faced with the decision to keep it or let it go... never an easy choice because everything I have created has meaning behind it and in someway has influenced my work today.

Do I really need that sketch though I did of a still life back in undergrad? Do I really need to keep that original woodcut block I used back in 1998 for a print? I strongly believe that letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose in our lives opens up the way for something new to come in. If something no longer holds value, it's time to let it go.

Between the purging of old work and cleaning my studio for this upcoming weekend, the energy has shifted in my working space significantly. I'm excited to see how all of this influences my creative process moving forward!

New Work

Oh You Sweet Thing
2013
Collage on Panel

Open Studio

On Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st from 12 pm to 5pm, the public is invited to tour the studios and visit with the artists at the 10th Annual YoHo Artists Open Studios.

The YoHo Artists Studios are located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue in the former Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Building in Yonkers, NY.

I'm located in studio #528, on the 5th floor at 578 Nepperhan Avenue.

Hope to see you there!